For centuries soldiers have suffered from traumatic stress, which in early years went by names of shell shock during World War I, and “acute mania” in the American Civil War. It was the Vietnam veterans return home and commonality of symptoms with rape victims that lead to the more recent and common understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated symptoms.
The funding for veterans pushes research into greater understanding of the effects of the emotional trauma suffered by soldiers and victims alike. Much is known about the body's physiological processes during the fight/flight/freeze responses. However, they will not be covered in medical detail regarding the central nervous system responses when in trauma. One worth mention has been called “general adaptation syndrome”, which entails the same or similar processes that manifest in physical and/or emotional reactions during an original traumatic event. These trauma responses include over-reactions to stimuli, sleepless nights, headaches, outbursts of anger, night-mares of terror or recurrent negative themes slowly deteriorate the quality of life for those affected. Depression and suicide or resigning from normal activities is still common among PTSD sufferers and especially high in the soldier grouping. However, current treatments seem exhausting and/or ineffective, and diminishing health and morale continue chronically.
Medical providers and governments were and are still at a loss of how to treat the afflicted. The symptoms were observable that something was amiss. But, especially for soldiers the wounds did not seem to merit a bandage or an operation. General Patton had even accused soldiers, of presenting these symptoms as a lack of being strong soldiers—attempting to evade their duties. Also, early treatments, which included electric shock therapy, electric heat baths, milk diets, hypnotism and mechanical devices to force realignment of body structures (usually limbs) were ineffective. So, soldiers were given some recuperation time and if able-bodied were sent back to the lines. Even though, these soldiers had physiological responses that are now becoming understood and associated to PTSD—effects common in combat soldiers.
Modern therapeutic techniques typically take months to be effective. Prolonged exposure therapy (PE) is a cognitive behavioral technique that exposes the patient to traumatic memories both in and out of therapy for extended time periods, typically eight to twelve weeks. Each week they attend one or two intensive therapist sessions revisiting the traumatic events lasting about an hour. During the multiple week PE program the patient is directed to further expose oneself to similar emotional trauma.
Power therapies (including eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), emotional freedom techniques, thought field therapy (TFT), traumatic incident reduction (TIR), visual-kinetic dissociation (V-KD) and tapas acupressure techniques that have come to public attention through alternative medicine) deal with methods contrary to this invention. EMDR is a reprogramming procedure using a therapist and eye movements directed by the therapist. Each of these methods utilizes highly trained therapists and scheduled appointments outside of the patient's home. TFT is a tapping of specific acupressure meridians, while engaging in thought about prior traumatic events. TIR, according to Wikipedia, is a form of psychotherapy in which a technique is used to assist a patient suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder by re-living the experience in a controlled environment, again repeating, with a counselor, therapist or psychotherapist. V-KD seems to be related to the Neuro-Linguistic Programming studied by its founders John Grinder and Richard Bandler, which “involves temporarily induced dissociation from the negative feelings associated with traumatic memory through visual review of the traumatic event(s) from a different perspective”. Michael Lamport Commons, “The Power Therapies: A proposed mechanism for their action and suggestions for future empirical validation”, Traumatology: The International Journal for Understanding the Traumatic Processes and methods for Reducing, Preventing, and Eliminating Related Human Suffering, Vol. VI, Issue 2, Article 5, Florida State University, August, 2000.
Another art is that of saunas. Finnish saunas typically involve temperatures of 180-212 degrees Fahrenheit with several heating and cooling cycles that could last 30 minutes to several hours. Cooling cycles are usually taken as personally desired.
Other heat-related observations have been made in published findings. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play a role in stress conditions from inflammation, exercise, oxygen deprivation, cell exposure to toxins or ultraviolet light, and from brief cellular exposure to sub-lethal high temperatures. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/527,468 (PGPub. 20070277304) contains a design for a modern bathing chamber which monitors both water and patient internal temperatures where the desired temperature is 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The purpose is to minimize stresses and provide a longer experience to counteract the HSPs and the associated stress upon the patient. Another similar example is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/500,202 (PGPub. 20050021112). It attempts to alleviate patient HSP response to a comfortable level by use of music, colored light and/or combinations with facial cooling or anesthesia.